Get your finances fit and in shape this year
Apply these physical fitness tips to your money management. By Neesa Moodley
It’s January and, as any regular gym-goer will tell you, it’s that time of the year when there are queues for the treadmills and other exercise machines as all the well-intentioned New Year’s resolutions get into full swing.
Usually around mid-february the numbers start dropping off, and by mid-march most of the new faces have stopped making regular appearances.
A 2009 study by the European Journal of Social Psychology found that it takes anything from 18 to 254 days for a person to fully entrench a new habit.
This means you would have to go to the gym regularly from 1 January until possibly the end of July before you could be considered to have fully entrenched the exercise habit. The good news is that you can build good financial habits and they can be implemented much quicker.
Let’s look at how you can take physical fitness tips and apply them to your money management.
1. Become a morning person. The idea is that if you go to gym before you start your day there is less of a chance for excuses. It also makes you more mindful of what you eat throughout the day.
Money lesson: Similarly, you should be paying yourself first so that instead of trying to save “what is left, if anything”, you prioritise your saving.
2. Don’t skip a workout. Just as you can’t expect to make gym gains with sporadic workouts, you can’t expect maximum savings with minimal effort.
Money lesson: One way to do this is to set up a debit order for your savings and essential expenses.
3. Planning is everything. You’ve no doubt seen those people who arrive at gym, chat to their friends, have coffee and drift around somewhat aimlessly, trying to figure out what to do next. Social media is loaded with thousands of free workout ideas. Scroll and select one before you get to the gym so that you are more focused.
Money lesson: You need a financial plan that lays out what your goals are and how you
plan to achieve them.
4. Fix your diet.
Planning your meals mindfully with a focus on nutrients and calories boosts your chances of success.
Money lesson: Having a budget means you become more aware of your expenditure patterns so that you can rein in any bad spending habits.
5. Progress through the setbacks. You are going to have days when you end up eating chocolate cake or can’t get to the gym because of a work deadline. It happens. The key is to pick yourself up and get back into your routine the next day.
Money lesson: Financial success, just like physical fitness, does not happen overnight or in absolute terms. You are bound to make mistakes along the way. However, as any asset manager (or gym trainer) will tell you, consistency is key and you have to commit for the long term.
The link Between nutrition, fitness and money management
Farzana Botha, segment marketing manager at Sanlam Risk and Savings, says she
believes that the key principles of fitness and nutrition can be applied equally well to money management.
“For example, I know the optimal number of calories I can eat to remain in my weight category. So, I need also to spend a particular amount of energy to keep the balance right.
Similarly, you need to look at your salary and household income – this is what you have, and this is what you can afford. So, just as someone watching their weight has to keep their calorie intake in check, you have to keep your spending in check to make sure you keep your family’s finances healthy.”
Botha doesn’t just talk the talk, she walks the walk. She is a member of the South African powerlifting team and the current African deadlift and bench-press champion in the women’s under-52kg weight category. Her top bench press is 75kg and she can deadlift 160.5kg.